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Phillies omit Myers, but may re-sign him

Phills omit Myers, but may re-sign him

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By Todd Zolecki
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MLB.com |

LOS ANGELES -- General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said he hasn't thought about right-hander Brett Myers' future with the Phillies.

But Amaro said one thing Thursday before Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium: just because the Phillies left Myers off their NLCS roster, it doesn't preclude them from re-signing the righty reliever in the offseason. Myers, who makes $12 million this year, will be a free agent after the season.

Asked after batting practice if the Phillies' decision to leave him off the roster precludes him from wanting to come back, Myers shrugged his shoulders and said, "Who cares?"

The Phillies left Myers off the roster because they didn't think he was throwing well after missing most of the season recovering from surgery on his right hip and missing a few weeks in September from a strained right latissimus dorsi. Philadelphia had right-hander Chan Ho Park take Myers' place in the bullpen. He is returning from a strained right hamstring.

"I look at Brett and it's almost like Spring Training for him," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He had a very serious injury, came back, and maybe it was too early, I don't know. "

It would be interesting to see how Myers could fit in the Phils' future plans. They already have starters Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick and others signed or under their control. Brad Lidge will be the closer. Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero also are under contract.

"Are five starters going to do it for a season?" Amaro said. "We're going to need 10. We'll probably need 10 or 15 starters with how quickly they fall by the wayside. Jamie, we think he's going to come back. He's coming off major surgery. He will be 47. I'd like to think that we can count on him, but not necessarily. We haven't thought that far down the line, but we're still going to need a lot of pitching."

NL Championship Series

Amaro said he doesn't know if Myers' future is as a starter or reliever.

"The beauty of Brett Myers is that he can do both," Amaro said.

Myers was upset about the decision. Manuel said Myers shrugged his shoulders and said nothing as Manuel told him the news Wednesday.

"I guess he should be upset," Amaro said. "It's something that's tough to take, especially after he worked so hard to get back. But we said it all along, we have to put the best 25 players we think it's going to take to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. Whether we made the right move or the wrong move, we felt it was the way to go."

The Phillies also replaced right-hander Kyle Kendrick with infielder Eric Bruntlett. The Phils felt they only needed 11 pitchers in the NLCS because of days off in between Games 2 and 3, 4 and 5 and 5 and 6. Bruntlett also gives them a pinch-running option in the late innings. The Phillies had Lee pinch-run in Game 2 of the NLDS, which certainly wasn't ideal.

Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.